Successful launch – first Norwegian into space – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country

There was jubilation in the control room at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida when the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched into space at 10.49pm Norwegian time. On board the space capsule “Ax-3”, there are four astronauts who are on their way out to the International Space Station ISS. Including 43-year-old Swedish-Norwegian Marcus Wandt. He makes history as Norway’s first astronaut in space with Norwegian citizenship. Wandt, who lives in Linköping in Sweden, is half Norwegian, has both Norwegian and Swedish citizenship. His mother is from Toten, and lives in Gjøvik. – If you ask her, I’m pretty much Norwegian, but also if you ask me, he previously told news. He is proud to represent both Sweden and Norway, writes NTB. According to the Swedish news agency TT, he will be the third Swede in space. The International Space Station (ISS) Photo: Ap The space station orbits the Earth. The successor to “Mir”, which according to plan crashed in the Pacific Ocean off New Zealand in 2001. A collaborative project between NASA (USA), Roskosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), CSA (Canada) and ESA (Europe). AEB (Brazil) collaborates through NASA. Orbits the Earth at an altitude of 400 kilometers with a speed of 26,000 km/h. Has a crew of six people. 221 people from 18 countries have been on the space station since it was put into use in 2000. See where the space station is right now Two weeks in space The astronauts have a journey of around 36 hours before they reach the space station ISS. They will be there for two weeks where they will carry out various experiments on Swedish and international research on weightlessness. According to SVT, they will, among other things, study how people’s mental and physical health is affected by staying in cramped spaces for long periods. The journey to the space station is organized by the company Axiom Space. The logistics are handled by Spacex with the space capsule Dragon 2 and the rocket type Falcon 9. The original plan was for the Falcon 9 rocket to be launched on Wednesday evening, but this was postponed. The team on board “Axiom Mission 3” consists of: Alper Gezeravci, fighter pilot in the Turkish Defense Forces Walter Villadei, pilot and colonel in the Italian Air Force Michael López-Alegría, former NASA astronaut and Commander Marcus Wandt, fighter and test pilot. Marcus Wandt, Alper Gezeravci, Walter Villadei of Italy and Michael Lopez-Alegria wave to their family after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday. January 18, 2024. Photo: AP – Proud dad Marcus had his family in place at the Kennedy Space Center before leaving for space. He has been in quarantine for the past two weeks, and the children have been able to meet him from a distance twice in the past few days. – I’m proud of dad. It feels surreal. Soon he will go up into space, says Benjamin Wandt to SVT’s Lilla Aktuelt. Wandt was one of over 22,500 people from all over Europe who applied for the astronaut admission to ESA (European Space Agency) in 2022. He has a background as a fighter pilot in the Swedish Air Force and has also been a test pilot for Saab. Danish Andreas Mogensen is all in place in the space station. When Wandt arrives, it will thus be a Scandinavian event. Swedish-Norwegian Marcus Wandt historically became the first astronaut into space with Norwegian citizenship. Photo: Reuters



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